Archive for the Academic Category

This year at the Colorado Association of Libraries Annual Conference, the Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) will commemorate ten years of speakers at Julie J. Boucher Memorial Lecture on Intellectual Freedom. Karen Bary, current IFC Chair, notes, “On this tenth anniversary we are not only looking back, but looking ahead, aware that intellectual freedom is under assault as never before.”

The 2006 “Julie” lecture is Saturday, November 11th at 9:30 am. This year’s speaker is Brent Hartinger , young adult author and founding member of the blog AS IF! Authors Support Intellectual Freedom . As a warm-up to the lecture, the IFC has started its own blog about Brent and his book, The Geography Club. To participate in this interesting online discussion go to: http://ifreadingmatters.blogspot.com/. It’s fun and easy to participate.

In addition, to the lecture there will be a reception Saturday evening from 5:00 – 6:00 pm with Julie’s parents, Virginia and Stanley Boucher and her brother, Jello Biafra, the celebrated punk icon and performance artist. There will be appetizers and a cash bar. Check your conference schedule for more information about this and other intellectual freedom events at the CAL Conference.

For more information about Julie Boucher and the lecture and awards named in her honor, please visit the LRS page at http://www.lrs.org/boucher.asp and the CAL-IFC page at http://www.cal-webs.org/boucher.html. More intellectual freedom links can be found on LRS.org at http://www.lrs.org/ifree.asp.

As you probably already know, Barbara Dey has retired from the Colorado State Library (CSL) and Deb Gettings, the LRS Administrative Assistant, is the new coordinator for the CSL Jobline.

With the change in regime, we thought this would be a good time to give the Jobline an update. We are moving Jobline to a database system so that the service can be searched and customized by users?-both employers and job seekers. Set for release in January 2007, features on the new Jobline will include employer registration, customized job description templates, and searching capabilities.

In addition to user features, the new Jobline database will allow LRS to generate and report data about job openings in Colorado libraries. Based on the data collected, we hope to produce meaningful statistics about the changing library job market in the state.

For us, this is the logical next step for Jobline and has the potential to make it even more valuable to the library community.

Last week Jobline Advisory Panel members met with LRS staff to help guide decisions about development, usability, and data reporting. The panel, consisting of librarians and human resources folks from all four library types, made many helpful suggestions which are being incorporated into the new design.

Want to see what?s happening for yourself? Stop by the LRS booth at the CAL Conference for a preview of the new Jobline website. We’d like to show you what we’ve done and get your feedback.

A new issue of FAST FACTS titled Salaries of Academic Librarians in the West & Southwest Region has been posted. This issue examines the salaries of academic librarians by position and library type for the West and Southwest region. The salaries of the region are compared to the average salaries of other regions and the nation as reported in the ALA Survey of Librarian Salaries 2005.

A recent study of libraries in Colorado?s correctional facilities shows that librarians are an invaluable source of information to inmates enrolled in academic courses. In a recent Fast Facts, guest author Schanie Cairns, concludes, ?Librarians in correctional settings may be a patron’s most important access to the outside world of news, events, ideas, and knowledge. This kind of access to information as well as access to literacy skills instruction is essential to student success in formal education.?

For more information, see the Fast Facts, ?How Librarians Help College Students at Colorado Correctional Facilities? (http://www.lrs.org/documents/fastfacts/233_DOC.pdf).

We?re so proud! Keith is the 2006 recipient of the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASLCA) Leadership Achievement Award. He will be presented with the award at a luncheon during the ALA Annual Conference in June. In a recent press release, the ASCLA awards committee chair, Ruth O?Donnell, said, ?Keith?s work in library statistics and service evaluation has been vital for library development in the nation. Every library director, regardless of library type, owes him a debt of gratitude because of his leadership.?

The Quotable Facts about Colorado Libraries 2006 has been posted to lrs.org. Significant statistics and facts regarding public, academic and school libraries are listed in the publication. It can be found in the Quotable Facts section at http://www.lrs.org/documents/quotable/QF_Colorado_2006.pdf.

More than 3000 public and academic library directors have received instructions for participation in the first Non-MLS Salary Survey. This survey, being conducted by the ALA Allied Professional Association (APA), will provide vital information about compensation for the majority of staff in libraries. The envelope has the ALA-APA logo. The deadline is March 3, 2006.

Because this survey utilizes a random sample, you must be invited to participate. Volunteer responses are not being accepted.

If your public or academic library is invited to participate in this survey, please do so. A high response rate is key to the success of the survey.

When the report becomes available, we wil provide a link to it on LRS.org’s Staffing and Salaries page: http://www.lrs.org/topics.asp#staff.

Check out the new resources on the Changing Library Workforce (http://www.lrs.org/workforce.asp) webpage, including links to studies from the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom.

There are also some very interesting articles & a presentation about the changes taking place in the library profession. Look for links to these articles:

* A Look at the Generations: Retirements and Rejuvenation of the Library Workforce
* A Worldwide Shortage of Librarians
* Diversity In The Library Workforce
* The Entry Level Gap
* Moving On Out
* Fixing the First Job

We have recently added a new tool to LRS-Interactive. The Random Date Generator allows users to generate a number of dates in any given calendar year, using limitors such as excluding specific days of the week and allowing only a certain number of dates per month.

Use it – and bookmark it – at http://www.lrs.org/interactive/randomdate.asp